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“Poetry – a literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm.”

I don’t know the answer to the question of whether a poet is “made” or “born”, but I suspect the answer is the latter. We can’t help it – we were born that way. In my own case, I know that my life experiences [education, upbringing, opportunities or the lack thereof, love, pain and adversity], all played an important part and all of those experiences were instrumental in what ultimately emerged as “Paul Guerin the Poet”.

Poetry means different things to different people. For me, it is all about feelings. If it captures the emotions of the reader, a poem will resonate and fill the soul. It can mean everything to one person and not much at all to another. The mood of the reader and no-one else, determines the outcome.

For example, love poems are wonderful when you are in love and their passion is amazing. If you are facing adversity however, love poems likely will just annoy you.

Making a decision to “let the inner poet emerge” is not easy. This is particularly so for a professional person, known for providing down-to-earth and sound advice to business clients over a period of decades. The fear, of course, is that my inner poet will not be taken seriously.

It is not surprising therefore, that it takes considerable courage to write about one’s innermost thoughts and feelings and then a whole lot more courage to actually proceed to publication and share those secrets with the world at large. But I proceeded throwing fate to the wind and published Poetry from my Heart; A Journey through Feelings. Shortly after the book came out, all four of my children told me how proud they were of the courage I showed in sharing my life’s experiences with the world. That was very humbling as a father but also was the icing on the cake that affirmed I had made the right decision to come clean and share the real me!

My creative writing abilities were dormant for years, buried inside until I was able to find and accept a sound level of emotional freedom and belief in myself. After that, it took many more years of soul searching and positive encouragement from close friends, for me to come out of the literary closet and admit to family and friends, to clients and even to complete strangers, that YES I am a poet and I have stuff to share with you, some of which you will most definitely find personal and sensitive.

My poems span the period from my birth until now at age 75. They are based on my life experiences – those “designer moments” that I refer to elsewhere. So I guess you could say I was born into poetry and groomed by life itself from day one until I found the courage to be out here.

Poetry has a healing power that nurtures the soul and quietens the mind and so I hope that Poetry from my Heart; A Journey through Feelings will do just that for the reader. Whatever a reader’s situation is in life, I hope there is something in my book to ease his or her journey.

Warmly,
Paul Guerin

Poetry: writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience, in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm.

Poetry means different things to different people. For me, it is all about feelings. If it captures the emotions of the reader, a poem will resonate and fill the soul. It can mean everything to one person and not much at all to another. The mood of the reader and no-one else determines the outcome.

For example, love poems are wonderful when you are in love and their passion is amazing. If you are facing adversity, however, love poems likely will just annoy or even anger you.

In “Poetry from my Heart”, I have attempted to divide the poems into categories which will fit your mood no matter what you are experiencing at the time you choose to explore them. There should be something for everyone, no matter whether you are in love, out of love, you hurt, you are lonely, angry, abandoned, or you are facing other challenges in your life.

Poetry has a healing power that nurtures the soul and quietens the mind, and so I hope that whatever your situation is in life, you will find something here that helps you safely on your journey.

Enjoy an Excerpt

You awoke my world

I met you and you awoke my world
Suddenly the birds sang louder
And the music seemed more magical
Our souls touched and our hearts beat as one

We both know that this is not possible
We will pinch each other to see if it is real
We both know there are hurdles ahead
But just now we do not care

I promise you I will never control you
Promise me you will love me always
Let us promise each other forever friendship
Let’s become the best friends of our dreams

I promise you can be free with me
That I will always want you to fly on your own
I will always be here for you no matter what
I swear these promises to the God inside my soul

Time will pass and we will climb mountains
We are a team of simple, pure, amazing grace
The changes we have made in our lives are huge
Let’s move forward with the speed of mutual lightening

At times I feel afraid of the pace and the risks this change may bring
At times I simply want to be alone to figure the right path
At times I stagger, falling and getting back up
Always, I have been there for you without a word

When you need space, it is freely yours to have
I will never hold you when you need to be free
My soul will never smother your free spirit
I will always hold you when you need to be held

About the Author:As a very young boy, I lived in a small Irish townland village called Castletownroche. The village was situated in the very beautiful and pastoral County Cork. I had an Irish uncle who played in a showband and who taught me to fish at age four. I wrote a poem about that. My mother was absent and I never knew my father. I wrote another poem about that. We lived in abject poverty. I survived by the grace and loving kindness of an old Irish grandmother sporting a black dress, black shawl and a wicked temper driving a razor-sharp tongue. I called her Nana.

Nana taught me to fear her retribution and used it to keep me safe and provide security that I could find nowhere else. Well into my teens, my inner world was cast in fear and I had no real sense of belonging or attachment to anyone or to anything. The inability to handle those feelings eventually led me to substance abuse. My journey along that road has generated much of the poetry of adversity, hope, and inspiration that you will find in this book. I truly hope that those poems in particular will salve the souls of those of you who are still trudging that happy road to destiny on your way back from hell.

Not surprisingly, I have had difficulty in maintaining healthy relationships throughout my life, and much of the love poetry is about those failures and many, many, sorry attempts to return to love. Those painful/happy experiences had a major influence on my writing.

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